Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief because people already know my views on this issue. These amendments are very much based on Galway but circumstances similar to those in Galway exist in Cork city. I offer my full support to the public representatives in Galway and its surrounds because they know at first hand the effects this measure will have on their area. I can see what is going to happen in my constituency, Cork South-West, where there was not one shred of democracy. Elected councillors from every party, including Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, as well as the independents, were totally against the amalgamation, especially the serious land grab, which will cost the rural communities severely. It does not matter whether it is in west Cork or Galway; it is the very same issue. It is the rural communities that will suffer.

My main worry is that the public representatives were not listened to, regardless of their location. Why have we elected representatives in councils who can speak on behalf of and working with the people on the ground if they simply do not have a say when it comes to issues such as this? They are being overlooked. Rural communities, be they in Galway or west Cork, are suffering and haemorrhaging terribly, and what is proposed will inflict further difficulties if it goes in my constituency in Cork. The islands and all the other communities will suffer. There was no proper consultation or dialogue. It was dictation from the top. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State considered this. I will be standing here again, please God, explaining to him where the Government went wrong and what it has cost the rural community of west Cork.

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